The first days of a job are difficult for everyone and set the tone for the relationship this new employee will have with the company for years, or worst case, days. Here are a few things that guarantee your new hire will be unhappy and unproductive:

Because of your lack of planning and inability to prioritize:

Assign them busy work that is dull and meaningless: for example; E-learning on the history of the company, shadowing existing staff without a script or purpose, CBT without context to keep them busy.

Rush and/or under-prioritize: everyone is busy and new hires have the shortest shelf-life. If you had enough time to hire, make sure you have enough time to shore up your investment with great onboarding.

It's easy for you and it is not easy for new people. What is obvious and clear to you and your team is mystifying and frustrating to a new person. It's not because of them - it's because you don't know what you know. Patience.

Don't over-promise. Resist the temptation to get excited about some early wins and say things like 'I can see you'll be in leadership soon' or 'You're already on the fast path.' Do say 'Nice job on that'.